Death of a Hoosier Schoolmaster: A Novel

By Marlis Day

Margo Brown is just your average Indiana schoolteacher...who also happens to be an amateur detective. So when Margo finds an old gun buried in her garden, she does what anyone in her postition would... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1563152886
• ISBN13: 9781563152887
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Sterling House Pub
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.3" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Hoosier Hospitality & Who-Dun-It combined.

The title attracted me since it reminded me of author Edward Eggleston ("The Hoosier Schoolmaster" & "The Hoosier School Boy"). Marlis Day has created a modern variety of Indiana teacher story which includes mystery, as well as life as a Hoosier and teacher. Being Hoosier-teacher-writer myself, I relate huge. 4-H Fair, local yore, rural Indiana, summer break, and small town gab are all REAL. It helped keeping a genealogy chart of the Steiner family as their mystery unfolded. Everyone's related to everybody, again real in Midwest small towns. I was surprised in the end. The plot grabbed me in the early chapters. From that point it was a can't-stop read-to-the-end single day delight. Farm, gardens, foods, nicknames, phrases, shopping, students, neighbors: it's all realistic. Well, Lum Steiner's ordeal was an outrageous new one on me. I've lived it all my life in rural Indiana. It's probably no different in any Midwest state. You'll likely do what I had to do. I ordered the other 2 Margo Brown books. I'll buy the next also, soon to be released. No, I have no connection with book sales, just the Hoosier/Teacher connection. And a love of good, fun stories. You'll find as many delights in this book as corncobs in a Hoosier field. Even if you live in N.Y.C., Windy City, or L.A.

Another winner!

Once again Marlis Day has provided us with a winning combination of suspense and humor. Her characters are delightful. As a retired teacher, I can attest to the accuracy of the teacher experience portrayed in her books. I hope she keeps them coming.

A Rusty Gun and a New Investigation Equals Danger

Margo Brown is working in her garden in a small town in southern Indiana when she finds a rusty pistol in the dirt. She takes it to a gun collector for dating, then learns that Gus Stiener, former owner of the land, died under strange circumstances, so she decides to go to the library to find out just how he died.Before long, her neighbors all know of her find and not everyone is happy about it. When she gets a message warning her to leave well enough alone, it only spurs her on. By now she's discovered Gus died of a gunshot wound and his two sons were indicted for the murder. They weren't convicted, but according to the older residents of the town, everybody knew they were guilty. Everyone also knew that Gus Steiner, a stern schoolmaster and sheep farmer, was a wealthy old bastard who worked his sons till they dropped.Margo is sure she's discovered evidence that could reopen the case, but she's still being warned off. Someone pushes into the river during a fireworks display on the Fourth of July, leaving her wet, filthy and mad. She won't quit till she learns the truth about Gus Steiner's death no matter what the cost.I found the plot of this nice five star mystery puzzling enough to hold my interest, and the twist in ending fooled me.Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

Marlis Day -schoolteacher, storyteller, mystery writer

Marlis Day has once again managed to spin a fascinating "true" mystery with a homespun tale of a rural schoolteacher's life and quest. I found the mystery involved with the schoolmaster to be filled with plenty of twists and turns, but my very favorite part of Marlis's book was the fabric of the lives of her characters. I began to envy the quiet, country life, the quirky characters with names like "Cactus" and "Roxie" and the simple joys of being a teacher at home in the country for the summer. Marlis cannot write another book fast enough for me.